Recently STATION WORK “share office” pods have started to appear at several stations in Tokyo, including Shinjuku, Tokyo, and Ikebukuro. After hearing about this I of course had to give it a try!

The sign-up process on their website is fairly straight-forward, although the site is only in Japanese. After creating an account you can link a credit card and SUICA card for payment.

https://www.stationwork.jp/

I decided to try the pods at Shinjuku Station, which are located at the South Gates near the NEWoMan department store. Keep in mind that the pods are actually inside the gated station area, so it’s really only suitable if you’re either taking a train or getting off a train.

When I arrived in the afternoon on a Saturday all of the pods were available.

To check-in you simply tap the screen and select QR code, and then you scan the QR code shown on your account using your phone. You can also check in using a SUICA card if you’ve linked one.

Next you select how long you want to use the pod.

The door automatically opens, and then closes after you enter.

The pod contains a pretty comfortable chair, a small desk, an HDMI monitor, a desk fan, plugs, and an AC unit (the AC unit however wasn’t working).

The pods also have their own dedicated WiFi, which was extremely fast!

5 minutes before my time ran out, there was an audio announcement in Japanese reminding me that my time was soon up. To leave you simply press the button, exit, and then the door closes behind you.

Overall it was fun to try it, but the use-case seems fairly limited since they are located inside the station. I guess if you have some spare time before catching a train it might come in handy. The campaign price (150 yen for 15 minutes) was reasonable at least. After the campaign period ends, the price goes up to 250 yen for 15 minutes.